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                 UN Hopes for Release of Peacekeepers in Syria

   by Margaret Besheer

   The United Nations peacekeeping chief says there is a possibility of a
   brief cease-fire Friday to allow for the release of 21 peacekeepers
   being held by armed elements of the Syrian opposition.
   Peacekeeping Chief Hervé Ladsous briefed the U.N. Security Council
   Friday morning on the status of efforts to free the 21 Philippine
   observers from the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force, known as UNDOF.
   Ladsous told reporters that the men are being held in four or five
   different locations in the Syrian town of Jamla, which has been
   subjected to intense shelling by the Syrian army in recent days.
   The lightly armed observers were stopped and seized by a group of some
   30 armed fighters in the area of separation between Israel and Syria on
   Wednesday.
   Ladsous says the men are "apparently safe" and the U.N. is working to
   secure their release. He said there is the possibility of short
   cease-fire Friday to allow for their safe release. "Needless to say, if
   that were to happen, as we all hope, we would strongly expect that
   there would not be retaliatory action by the Syrian armed forces over
   the village," he stated. "And its civilian population after our people
   have left."
   Syria's U.N. ambassador, Bashar Jaafari, disputed the accusation that
   government forces are shelling the area where the Philippine
   peacekeepers are being held. "The shelling is targeting the suburbs of
   the villages where the armed groups are concentrated," he said. "We
   know for sure what we are doing and we know where the peacekeepers
   are."
   ''
   There are just over 1,000 U.N. troops in the Golan Heights, where the
   U.N. has monitored a cease-fire between Israel and Syria since 1974.
   Croatia has already announced plans to withdraw its 100 observers from
   the mission, leaving only Austria, India and the Philippines to staff
   the force.
   Ladsous said the United Nations is looking at how its Golan mission
   will operate in light of the deteriorating security situation on the
   ground.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/un-hopes-for-release-of-peacekeepers-
   in-syria/1617967.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/un-hopes-for-release-of-peacekeepers-in-syria/1617967.html